Ne base 28 feruary 2018 energy news issue 1146 by khaled al awadi

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NewBase Energy News 28 February 2018 - Issue No. 1146 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
UAE:Adnoc awards MU$D850 concession agreements to Inpex
The Japanese firm picked up a 10 per cent stake in Lower Zakum, and existing partnerships were
extended on Satah and Umm Al Dalkh
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) awarded Japan's Inpex operating stakes in an offshore
concession and extended existing partnerships on two others in agreements worth around $850
million.
Inpex, whose president and CEO is Toshiaki Kitamura, picked up a 10 per cent 40-year stake in
the offshore Lower Zakum concession area valued at $600m and had its concession agreements
on the Satah and Umm Al Dalkh fields extended for 25 years for a fee of $250m, Adnoc said in a
statement on Monday.
The Japanese firm, which last year signed an agreement with Exxon Mobil to boost production
capacity from Upper Zakum to a million barrels per day (bpd) by 2024, saw its stake in the Umm
Al Dalkh concession increased to 40 per cent from 12 per cent, Adnoc said.
The Inpex deals come amid a flurry of upstream concession awards by Adnoc as the state oil firm
looks to lock in partnerships before they expire in March.

“As we accelerate delivery of our 2030 smart growth strategy, Adnoc aims to seize new
opportunities from increasing energy demand in Asia’s expanding economies," Dr Sultan Al Jaber,
Minister of State and Adnoc group chief executive said.
Adnoc is engaging more Asian firms across its various concessions as part of the oil company's
pivot to bringing in new partners. Earlier this month, the company awarded a 10 per cent stake in
the Lower Zakum area to an Indian consortium led by state-owned ONGC's international arm for
$600m. Cepsa, the Spanish oil and gas company owned by Abu Dhabi's strategic firm Mubadala,
meanwhile, picked up a 20 per cent stake in offshore concession areas of SARB and Umm Lulu
for $1.5bn.
• NPEX contributes AED 2.2 billion participation fee for Lower Zakum and AED 920 million to
extend its interests in the Satah and Umm Al Dalkh concession
• 40-years Lower Zakum concession award further strengthens strategic relationship
between the UAE and Japan, and underscores international confidence in ADNOC’s long-
term strategy
• Agreement increase’s ADNOC’s foot-print in world’s third largest economy and helps meet
Japan’s energy needs
• Lower Zakum is one of three new separate concession areas that make up the former
ADMA offshore concession
Forging long-term upstream alliances with Asian companies can be one way for Mideast oil
producers to secure markets for their output, said Vandana Hari, founder and chief executive of
energy advisory firm Vanda Insights.
To be
Announced

"Though oil prices have been recovering since last year, they have not yet given producers
enough confidence to put E&P [exploration and production] funding back on the table," she said.
"In such an environment it makes sense to attract upstream investment in oil and gas by giving
investors the security of a long-term agreement."
Such agreements give security in a uncertain environment to oil producers as energy demand,
particularly in Asia, is poised to be increasingly met through renewable sources with electric and
autonomous vehicles likely to play a big role in over the next decade.
Strengthening footholds in Asia will be increasingly important for Middle East producers,
particularly as US crude exports continue to increase and gain market share making such long-
term deals “increasingly attractive", added Spencer Welch, director for oil markets and
downstream at London-based IHS Markit.
The award to Inpex will be effective from March 9 and follows Adnoc's announcement last year
that it would split its Adma-Opco concession – now known as Adnoc Offshore – into three smaller
parts operated in partnership with international oil and gas companies, with the state firm retaining
a 60 per cent stake.
The Lower Zakum concession, from where Adnoc is targeting production of 450,000 bpd over an
unspecified period of time, has another 20 per cent stake up for grabs before the pact's expiry in
March.
Umm Shaif and Nasr oil and gas fields, where production capacities of 460,000 bpd and 500
million cubic feet per day of gas are being considered, has yet to find international partners to take
on 40 per cent of the operating stake.
The remaining 20 per cent of SARB and Umm Lulu - awarded to Cepsa last week - is set to find
stakeholders soon, the company noted. Adnoc is targetting production of around 215,000 bpd
from these offshore fields.
The award to Inpex comes after state visits and discussions between Adnoc and Japanese
companies since the Abu Dhabi-headquartered firm revealed it partnership model in July.
Japan, the world's fourth-largest oil consuming nation after the US, China and India, according to
the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, has been an early stakeholder in Abu Dhabi's oil field
development.
Adnoc first partnered with Japan Oil Development Company (Jodco), wholly owned by Inpex, to
develop Upper Zakum in 1977. The offshore field, discovered the same year, is the second-largest
in Abu Dhabi and the fourth-largest in the world. US oil major Exxon Mobil joined Adnoc and
Jodco to develop the field in 2006, when plans were drawn up to boost production capacity to
750,000 bpd from 500,000 bpd.
Last October Adnoc announced it was holding advanced discussions with Japanese firms to
renew expiring offshore concessions. Jodco has held stakes in the Satah and Umm Al Dalkh fields
since the eighties. The Japanese firm also holds a 12 per cent stake in the offshore Nasr field,
which began production in 2015.

Austria's OMV Is Set to Win Abu Dhabi Oil Concession
Bloomberg - Boris Groendahl
Austrian oil producer OMV AG is poised to win a deal to produce oil from offshore fields in Abu
Dhabi, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
While the agreement with OMV has yet to be completed, an announcement is expected in the
coming weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified because the negotiations are
confidential.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., the state-owned company whose fields produce almost all the United
Arab Emirates’s oil, is awarding new concessions to foreign investors to gain access to technology
and finance and secure markets for its crude. OMV would be
the second company with links to Abu Dhabi to gain a deal.
Abu Dhabi’s sate-run investment company, Mubadala, is the
second-largest shareholder in OMV behind the Austrian state.
Spain’s Cia Espanolade Petroleos SA, wholly owned by
Mubadala, already paid $1.5 billion for a 20 percent stake in a
group of offshore fields.
“A cooperation between Adnoc and OMV would be good news
for OMV,” Tamas Pletser, an analyst with Erste Group in
Budapest said by telephone. “Good relationships are what
matter the most in the region with its vast reserves, and the two
companies at a later stage could also refine oil.” An oil
concession would probably be “only a first step.”
An Adnoc spokesman said discussions are ongoing with a number of potential partners on the
remaining concession areas. OMV declined to comment. Abu Dhabi is also striking deals with the
biggest buyers of its crude oil.
Earlier this week, see above article, Japan’s Inpex Corp. signed a 40-year deal for a 10 percent
stake in Adnoc’s Lower Zakum field for $600 million. A group of Indian companies have already
paid the same amount for 10 percent of Lower Zakum field.

Ecuador seeks to lure investors by expanding oil auction:
Reuters - Alexandra Valencia
Ecuador will increase the number of oil and gas areas it plans to offer in an auction next month by
including mature crude fields and an offshore gas field, oil minister Carlos Perez told Reuters on
Tuesday.
Many Latin American countries are trying to improve their offerings and contract rules to secure
foreign investment amid intense regional competitions this year, with major auctions expected in
Mexico, Brazil and Uruguay.
The minister said the Amistad gas field in the Guayaquil Gulf will be added to the Ecuadorian
auction, along with at least four mature or small onshore oil blocks that will be developed under
service contracts with state-run oil company Petroamazonas.
“Our goal is to attract investment and also look for an increase in production and reserves in the
future,” Perez told Reuters in an interview before a public event to review the country’s main oil
achievements last year.
Amistad is the country’s only gas producing field with an output of 39 million cubic feet per day
from six active wells, according to official figures. The government has not yet decided the
contract model for that area as new legislation for the gas industry is needed, Perez said.
The mature onshore oilfields include the Cuyabeno, Oso and Vinita-Blanca areas at Ecuador’s
Amazon region, Perez said. Those will be added to eight onshore areas in the country’s
Northeast, close to the border with Colombia, under the Intracampos bidding round, whose results
are expected in August.

Ecuador, which is opening to international markets, tackling tax reform and public-sector austerity
measures under the government of President Lenin Moreno, has said it plans to increase crude
production by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year by adding barrels from its ITT block.
It is switching to shared profit agreements from service contracts in the areas not operated by
Petroamazonas to secure more investments. The new terms will allow producers to be paid in oil
and enable them to export or sell the barrels to local refineries.
The Andean country’s crude output has fallen to 515,000 bpd, Perez said, below the output ceiling
of 520,000 bpd when OPEC agreed to restrain production starting last year.
Perez recently started talks with OPEC to be allowed to increase Ecuador’s production this year
despite the organization’s joint output cut agreement that is slated to run through the end of this
year, he added.
“Ecuador’s production is marginal in the OPEC context. It is a commitment with them to maintain
OPEC’s unity. We talked about it during the OPEC secretary general’s visit (earlier this month),
they are giving Ecuador flexibility,” he said.
OPEC crude only production has held steady for three months. However, this chart
masks the fact that November production was revised downward by 45,000 barrels
per day and December production was revised downward by 107,000 barrels per day.
January production was 76,000 barrels per day below last years 12-month average of
32,378,000 barrels per day and 247,000 barrels per day lower than OPEC's 2016 12-
month average of 32,549,000 barrels per day.
OPEC oil production was down just 8,100 barrels per day in January. November
production was revised down 45,000 bpd and December production was revised down
by 107,000 bpd. The largest revisions were for Venezuela. Their production was
revised down 28,000 bpd in November and 98,000 bpd in December.

U.S. uranium production in 2017 was the lowest since 2004
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Review and Domestic Uranium Production Report
U.S. uranium concentrate production totaled 2.44 million pounds in 2017, down 16% from 2016
and the lowest annual total since 2.28 million pounds of uranium concentrate was produced in
2004. Domestic concentrate production peaked at 43.7 million pounds in 1980 but has remained
lower than 5 million pounds annually since 1997.
Uranium milling involves extracting uranium ore, crushing it into a fine powder, and adding
chemicals to separate the uranium. The United States currently has only one operating uranium
mill. At Utah’s White Mesa Mill, uranium concentrate can be produced from a number of primary
mines, as well as from alternate or recycled sources.
The production of uranium concentrate, also known as triuranium octoxide (U3O8), or more
commonly as yellowcake, is the first step in the nuclear fuel production process. Uranium
concentrate is then converted into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), enriched, fabricated into fuel
pellets, and loaded into nuclear fuel assemblies.
Uranium concentrate is currently produced at seven facilities in the United States: six in-situ leach
plants in Nebraska and Wyoming and one uranium mill in Utah. In-situ leaching, or in-situ
recovery, is a process where a solution injected into uranium deposits produces a slurry, which is
pumped to a processing facility where uranium is separated to produce yellowcake.
During 2017, a significant portion of domestic uranium concentrate came from alternate sources
such as conversion facilities and various clean-up sites. For decades, the White Mesa Mill
received approval to recycle about 20 different sources of alternate feed materials.
Recently these alternate feeds have accounted for a larger share of overall uranium production.
Some of the uranium concentrate contained in the recycled material would have been reported as
primary production in a prior year. For this reason, the amount of uranium production attributable
solely to primary mining and alternate feeds in 2017 is less than the total 2.44 million pounds
supplied.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration based on TradeTech
Domestic uranium production continues to decline under historically low uranium prices. During
2017, the spot U3O8 price remained between $20 and $25 per pound, lower than the spot price in
2005 through early 2016. The correlation of declining production and uranium prices suggests that
the operating costs of most U.S. producers are higher than revenues from processing mined
uranium deposits.
Domestically produced uranium makes up a small portion of the uranium delivered to U.S. nuclear
power plants. EIA’s latest Uranium Marketing Annual Report, with data for 2016, showed that
U.S.-origin uranium made up 5.4 million pounds, or 11%, of the 50.6 million pounds delivered to
U.S. nuclear plants in 2016.
Four countries—Canada, Kazakhstan, Australia, and Russia—each supplied more uranium to
U.S. nuclear plants in 2016 than the United States. The 2017 Uranium Marketing Annual Report is
expected to be published in June.

NewBase February 28 - 2018 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Oil Set for 1st Monthly Drop Since August on U.S. Stockpile Fear
Bloomberg + Reuters + NewBase
Oil is poised for its first monthly decline in six months as a rally at the start of the year fades on
growing fears over booming U.S. shale supply.
Futures in New York dropped 0.4 percent and are down 3.1 percent in February. An industry
report was said to show U.S. oil inventories rose last week, which would be the fourth expansion
in five weeks if confirmed in government data. The head of OPEC plans to dine with shale
producers in Houston next week at a time when America is pumping at record levels and
threatening the group’s efforts to curb a glut.
After having the best start to the year in more than a decade, oil has had a tumultuous month.
Prices tumbled early on in February following a global asset rout, only to recover some of their
losses as equities rebounded. While the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ output
curbs, a supply disruption in Libya and ongoing turmoil in Venezuela have helped buoy prices,
expanding U.S. shale production continues to haunt the market.
“Other than some temporary events among OPEC nations that drove a price rally, investors have
been keeping their focus on the U.S. supplies this month,” Will Yun, a Seoul-based commodities
analyst at Hyundai Futures Corp., said by phone. “Oil prices are likely to be under pressure in the
Oil price special
coverage

coming months as the market continues to absorb news on expanding supplies in the U.S., which
is on path to be the world’s biggest crude producer.”
West Texas Intermediate for April delivery fell 27 cents to $62.74 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange as of 3:48 p.m. in Singapore, on course for the first monthly decline since
August. The 3.1 percent drop this month comes after prices rallied 37 percent in the five months
through to the end of January. Total volume traded was about 5.1 percent below the 100-day
average.
Brent for April settlement, which expires Wednesday, slipped 0.3 percent to $66.45 a barrel on the
London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange. The contract lost 1.3 percent, or 87 cents, on
Tuesday. The more-active May contract lost 17 cents to $66.35. The global benchmark crude
traded at a $3.71 premium to April WTI.
U.S. Data
The American Petroleum Institute was said to report U.S. oil stockpiles rose by 933,000 barrels
last week. Government data Wednesday is forecast to show inventories rose by 3 million barrels,
according to a Bloomberg survey.
U.S. crude output is forecast to rise to a record level in February, stoking fears that shale
producers may derail OPEC’s strategy of reducing output to clear a global glut. The producer
group’s secretary general Mohammed Barkindo said he will meet with U.S. shale company
executives for dinner on Monday in Houston, the second time he has met with some of the cartel’s
top rivals.

Other events that have influenced oil’s course this month were crises in OPEC members
Venezuela and Libya. Libya’s oil exports from a key port will be “modified” after protests disrupted
production, putting the nation’s crude output at risk of a decline again. Meanwhile in Venezuela,
the country’s oil sector is expected to be negatively impacted through 2022 on continued
economic turmoil, according to Fitch’s BMI Research. The U.S. is leaning toward imposing oil-
sector sanctions on Venezuela before it holds elections in April.
Outside of OPEC, equities and the dollar have been a catalyst for oil’s price swing in February. A
risk asset rout that started in the U.S. stock market spread to crude, dragging down prices by as
much as almost 10 percent in one week.
While futures have rebounded, the greenback’s strength is weighing on dollar-priced commodities.
The Bloomberg Commodity Index is on course for a 1.4 percent slide this month, while the dollar
added 1.2 percent in the same period, reducing the appeal of commodities priced in the currency.
Traders said oil prices declined on concerns of a slowdown in the global economy after China
reported on Wednesday that factory growth in February was at its lowest since July 2016. China is
the world’s second-biggest economy and the biggest importer of oil after overtaking the Unites
States last year. Crude oil demand is highly correlated to economic growth.
While China’s week-long Lunar New Year holiday this month disrupted business activity, traders also
pointed to tougher pollution rules that curtailed factory output. In Japan, the world’s third-largest economy,
industrial output in January took its biggest tumble since a devastating earthquake in March 2011,
highlighting a weakening in demand and a build up of inventory.
Growth in India’s factory activity slowed as well to a four-month low in February as new orders eased and
weighed on output, after manufacturers raised prices at the fastest pace in a year, a business survey
showed on Wednesday. In the United States, the world’s biggest oil consumer, rising crude stockpiles
weighed on prices. Data on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute showed that crude inventories
rose by 933,000 barrels in the week to Feb. 23, to 421.2 million barrels. Refinery crude runs dropped by
209,000 barrels per day (bpd), the API data also showed, implying a drop in demand for feedstock crude.
Gasoline stocks rose by 1.9 million barrels.

Here's Why Oil Is Going Much Higher Soon
The new, but old, narrative is that frackers will cause a new, maybe the same as the old, oil glut.
Frackers could not and would not cause an oil glut, not in a box, not with a fox, not in a house, not
with a mouse.
Inflation and oil supply disruptions are very high risks in the not-too-distant future.
Buy oil and gas stocks on this correction to appropriate asset allocation levels for your risk level.
Energy has been a top performer for decades. Over the past few years it has seen a volatile road
crashing from highs. Recently oil and gas rallied into late autumn; however, there has been a
recent correction. This correction is another, maybe the last, excellent opportunity to buy into the
"Last Great Secular Oil Bull Market" in my opinion.
Frackers Aren't Going to Frack Up
There is a current narrative by oil traders on the short side that America's oil companies that use
hydraulic fracturing - frackers - will suppress oil prices by recreating an oil glut. Goldman Sachs
(GS) suggests that fracking will keep the price of oil at or under $60 per barrel.
My opinion is that the traders are merely talking their books and that Goldman Sachs, in its all too
regular manner, has deeper and self-interested motives steering its commentary. Remember, this
is a company that was on both sides of the real estate derivatives trades before the financial
crisis.
Goldman's analysis of anything that involves so much money is, in my opinion, worth taking with a
grain of salt, and often, in my experience, used as a contrary indicator. Can you imagine why
Goldman is talking down oil now? I can. They could be short now and want to be long later.
While there is fracking going on in multiple oil fields, the overwhelming majority of onshore
production increase is coming from the Permian Basin. The rest of the U.S. oil production
increases are coming from the Gulf of Mexico.
From Dallas News using EIA Data

NewBase Special Coverage
News Agencies News Release February 28-2018
US senators reject biofuels overhaul, setting up fight between
Trump's energy and big farm backers
Tom DiChristopher | @tdichristopher
Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst on Tuesday rejected proposals to overhaul a federal biofuels
program that benefits their home state of Iowa.
Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, as well as Trump deputies Scott Pruitt and Sonny
Purdue, back changes to the clean-fuel program.
The issue took on greater urgency after Philadelphia Energy Solutions blamed its recent bankruptcy on the cost
of buying credits under the program.
Top corn-state
senators have
rejected proposals by
the Trump
administration and
fellow Republicans to
overhaul a federal
biofuels program
fiercely opposed by
oil refiners.
The impasse signals
that the long-burning
battle will continue to
divide two pillars of
President Donald Trump's base: the fossil fuel industry and agricultural states. Ending the clean
fuel program is also a top priority for a group of Trump supporters dedicated to rolling back
environmental regulations.
Trump has so far rejected calls to alter or scrap the program, but the issue took on greater
urgency after Pennsylvania-based refiner Philadelphia Energy Solutions blamed its recent
bankruptcy on the burden of buying credits.
Iowa Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst told reporters no deal had been reached
following a White House meeting on Tuesday. The gathering was convened to discuss proposed
changes supported by energy state Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania,
as well as Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and Agriculture Secretary
Sonny Perdue.
While Ernst said Trump signaled his desire to meet with representatives of the ethanol industry,
perhaps as soon as Thursday, she indicated the issue likely won't be resolved quickly.
"It's clear that this is going to be a very tough road ahead," Ernst said.

"We're going to be fighting this out."
Biofuels battle rages on
The program in question is the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires the nation's refiners to
blend an increasing amount of ethanol and other biofuels into transportation and heating fuels.
The goal is to reduce dependence on foreign oil and cut harmful emissions from petroleum-based
fuels.
The program has long been criticized by refiners, especially smaller companies that lack the ability
to blend ethanol. These merchant refiners have to purchase credits called renewable identification
numbers, or RINs, from their bigger competitors in order to meet their annual requirements.
Analysts have told CNBC that Philadelphia Energy Solutions' troubles are largely due to poor
business decisions and a high debt load, accusations Grassley repeated on Tuesday.
Grassley and Ernst rejected two key parts of a reform plan previously reported by several news
agencies.
Those include capping the price of RINs, which currently float based on demand. Cruz has
suggested a ceiling of 10 cents, well below current levels and recent highs near $1 per credit.
They also said they could not support a plan Pruitt promoted last year that would allow refiners to
count gasoline-ethanol blends they ship overseas toward their annual mandates.
A third proposal promoted by Cruz would cut Wall Street speculators out of the market. Refiners
often blame these traders for bidding up the price of RINs. They say trading in the credits should
be restricted to the companies that blend fuel.
A final measure, meant to appease the ethanol industry and corn states, would remove
restrictions on gasoline made up of 15 percent ethanol, which can only be sold in the summer
months.
Grassley and Ernst said allowing the biofuel to be sold year-round would not offset the damage
from the pro-refinery proposals.

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
The Editor :”Khaled Al Awadi” Your partner in Energy Services
NewBase energy news is produced daily (Sunday to Thursday) and
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For additional free subscription emails please contact Hawk Energy
Khaled Malallah Al Awadi,
Energy Consultant
MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA
Emarat member since 1990
ASME member since 1995
Hawk Energy member 2010
Mobile: +97150-4822502
khdmohd@hawkenergy.net
khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 28 years of experience in
the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for
Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Energy
consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE
operations base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations
Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility &
gas compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great
experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering &
regulating stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, &
compiling gas transportation, operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the
local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the
UAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.
NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
NewBase February 2018 K. Al Awadi

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Ne base 28 feruary 2018 energy news issue 1146 by khaled al awadi